If Christopher Nolan has his way (and he’s gonna, the studio would be nuts to not to let him have his way every which way he wants it until the cows come home, or at least until his films stop making $100 million bucks in its opening week, which is probably not anytime soon with “Inception” on the horizon), then the Joker’s return for “Batman 3″ (with someone else replacing the late Heath Ledger) is completely and absolutely out of the question. He also adds that the Penguin and Mr. Freeze have not been ruled out of “Batman 3″, but there isn’t any mention of Catwoman, which gives us all hope Rachel Weisz might eventually show up in skintight pleather some day.

Talking to the UK’s Empire Magazine (via Dark Horizon), on newsstands now for you reading types, Nolan also confirms that he has not officially signed on to “Batman 3″, though his brother Jonah is actively working on the script with David Goyer and one presumes that means it’s only a matter of formality.

According to Nolan, his third “Batman” movie won’t just be a stand-alone film, filler material if you will, but the third entry in what he envisions as a trilogy that will bring Batman full circle from “Batman Begins”, which certainly sounds like he intends for this to be his final film in the series.

And finally, he also talks about the upcoming “Superman” reboot, which Nolan has famously been attached to as a “Godfather”, meaning he’ll probably end up producing and having a huge say in the script, which his “Batman” writer David Goyer will be the frontman on. He also seems to indicate that Goyer’s pitch for the reboot, which Warner Bros. has set them to develop, will be going the “Batman Begins” route, with a darker version of the Man of Steel than we’ve seen before onscreen. I still don’t know how that would work (Supes ain’t nicknamed “The Big Boy Scout” for nothing, you know), but I’m sure if anyone could make it work, Nolan is probably your best bet.

As for those hoping for a Batman-Superman crossover — you can forget about it. Nolan doesn’t think it would work, and has no plans for it.

Meanwhile, Nolan is finishing up his obligations to “Inception”, which he envisions as taking another few months. It’s only after that’s done that he says he can start working on his next project, which is likely “Batman 3″.